This is one of those archaic words we occasionally come across in print, or which are (surprisingly) sometimes still spoken aloud.
When we encounter it, the context tends to make the meaning clear, but it’s so uncommon, and so odd, that if you asked us to explain ‘gainsay’ we might find ourselves a bit stuck.
A member rises in the parliament during a debate and announces: ‘I won’t gainsay all of the minister’s words, but neither will I endorse all his sentiments.’
That’s a parliamentarian parading their learning and showing off a bit of oratorical style.
But what, exactly, does ‘gainsay’ mean?
So, after ignoring it all these years I finally did some research.
It turns out that ‘gainsay’ (and sometimes in the past tense as ‘gainsaid’) means ‘to deny’ or ‘to contradict.’
In the collection of citations under this word in the full Oxford English Dictionary there are none from the 20th century (and certainly none from the 21st!)
So, this is not only archaic, it is now also rare.
It comes from a Germanic source and has been with us since the days of Old English.
The second half of ‘gainsay’ is clear enough—it’s something someone says.
But what’s this ‘gain-’ bit in the front?
Well, this is a prefix found in a number of old Germanic languages that always indicated opposition.
There used to be (in the distant past) a whole lot of words in this group (‘gainspeaker’ meaning an opponent; ‘gainclap’ meaning a counter hit against someone who hit you; ‘gainset’ a fixed opposition—and a bucket full of others in the same style).
So, on the off chance that you encounter ‘gainsay’ in the future, you can now mutter at it (under your breath) ‘I know what you’re all about, you sneaky little word.’)
Tonight I will join Peta Credlin on News24 for 'Words Matter.'
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BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
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